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The Thoughtless Arrest And Brutalization Of Omoyele Sowore And Others Over Crossover Protest By Stanley Imhanruor

Hate him or love him. Hate his methodology or like his methodology but one thing you can never take away from him is that: in him the man never DIES.

If you admire him and his  advocacy for good governance prior to 2015 general elections but suddenly you are mad at him for also deploying similar civil and peaceful means to call attention to the failings and inadequacies of the current government at the centre  and generally, the joke is on you.



Make no mistake about it, he has the right to constantly protest peacefully on a daily basis whether alone or in company of other persons (if he so wishes) and irrespective of whoever maybe wearing a frowning face.

Protest is not a criminal offence.

The Police should either charge him and others to court immediately if they are of the opinion that have committed any “criminal offence(s)” by embarking on a peaceful protest by whatever name styled or release them immediately.

Peace or security of lives and properties is never the absence of peaceful protests or controversies or debates about good governance or the absence of good governance.

If anything, ideas about good governance or the absence of it must be allowed to continuously clash in the intellectual market place.

The best way to engender peace is to guarantee the right of citizens to singly or collectively protest peacefully at all times.

It is the constitutionally responsibility of the Police to protect peaceful protesters like in the instant case from attacks by misguided elements be they in Uniform or not  and not otherwise.

You don’t expect everyone to be an hallelujah crusader or hallelujah boy or girl of the government in power and declare voices of dissent as “enemies” of the State.

The beauty of democracy lies in the plurality of opinions.

The way the protests and criticisms of some persons against the government offends you and your sensibility rightly or wrongly, is exactly the same way your praise singing or defence of the government offends some other persons too.

#Balance of dissatisfactions!

Consequently, if the government protects the praise singers, the least that is expected from the same  government is to equally protect protesters and critics and not to seek to intimidate them by the coercive power of the State. 

Every component of the society irrespective of perception or ideological bend constitutes a block in nation building and to build a viral and successful nation, all the building blocks must work together but they don’t necessarily need to agree on how the bigger picture (final product/building) must be achieved.

Protest / debate is an integral part of the building blocks of a democratic nation.

#FreeSowore&others.

Stanley Imhanruor Esq

Sourced From Sahara Reporters

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